A group of University of Wisconsin students participated in a demonstration on campus endorsing Hamas terrorists’ attack against Israel, and the university declined to condemn the chants heard at the event.
The students were observed holding Palestinian flags in front of the university’s library as one woman was heard shouting into a microphone, “Glory to the murders!” and “We will liberate the land — by any means necessary!”
According to Hillel International, roughly 5,200 Jewish students attend the University of Wisconsin, the sixth-most of any public university in the U.S.
The university described the chants celebrating Hamas’ largest attack on Israel in decades as “respectful dialogue” that it allows on and off campus.
DOZENS OF PRO-PALESTINIAN UNIVERSITY STUDENT CHAPTERS CELEBRATE ATTACK ON ISRAEL: ‘NOT UNPROVOKED’
“The university is not able to restrict First Amendment protected speech, nor does a speaker, rally, or protest on campus constitute the university’s endorsement of the message,” a spokesperson for the school said in a statement to the New York Post.
The spokesperson also purported that the demonstrators were chanting, “Glory to the martyrs.” But the spokesperson did not dispute the chant that said, “We will liberate the land — by any means necessary!”
The school declined to comment when pressed by the Post on whether the use of the term “martyrs” was appropriate since the Hamas terrorists killed, kidnapped and raped Israeli civilians.
More than 3,600 people have been killed in the war in Israel since Hamas launched its attack last week, leading to retaliatory action from Israeli forces. Thousands more have been wounded, and many others have been taken hostage by Hamas and raped, tortured and murdered.
University Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin released a statement Wednesday condemning the “vicious terrorist attacks by Hamas on Israeli civilians” that began on October 7. Mnookin’s statement did not address Tuesday’s protest.
“I mourn for those lost. I pray for those injured and abducted,” she wrote. “And I fear the terrifying inevitability of a great many further deaths, of Israelis and Palestinians, of civilians and soldiers. I worry, too, that these devastating developments will fan the global flames of both anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, making peace and justice in the region even more elusive.”
“As a general matter, I am skeptical that those in roles like mine should frequently comment on global or world events,” Mnookin added. “However, in this case, I recognize the grave degree of impact these events have had on so very many in our own community. It is for this reason that I write, even as I recognize that these or any words are inevitably inadequate in the face of such unspeakable tragedy.”
The demonstration on Tuesday was one of several pro-Hamas protests at U.S. colleges and universities last week. Pro-Palestinian student groups at various institutions also released statements defending Hamas’ attacks even as many of the universities themselves condemned the acts of terrorism.
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